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• Forging line with fully integrated process and production control from a single source
• High-performance titanium materials for parts in the aerospace industry as well as for medical applications
• Digitalization solutions and technology packages enhance productivity and efficiency levels

American titanium producer Perryman Company, Houston PA, USA, has placed an order with SMS group for the supply of two new forging machines. The order comprises a 40/45 MN high-speed open-die forging press in the pull-down design and an SMX 500/15 MN hydraulic radial forging machine with two forging manipulators as well as the order and production control system for the entire forging line.

The open-die forging press will be used to forge cast titanium billets first to the required size so that, in the next step, they can be finish-forged in the radial forging machine to produce bars – round, square or flat – up to a maximum length of 14,000 millimeters.

By making this investment, Perryman is able to expand its own holistically integrated production processes and extend the forged product portfolio based on its expertise in titanium.

"We supply customers in a wide range of industries. We see strong growth in the aerospace industry and medical sector in particular. With this new forging line, we are ideally equipped to meet the growing demand. This enables us to produce forgings for turbines and safety-relevant structures that comply with our high quality standards. What convinced us was SMS‘ technological know-how and the impressive plant concept with fully integrated process and production control system that is all supplied from a single source," emphasizes Frank Perryman, President and CEO of Perryman Company.

"With the whole SMS plant package, including digitalization tools and technology packages, Perryman is able to increase its production efficiency and maintain consistent quality levels. We are pleased that we were able to impress Perryman with the implementation of this extensive project," said Dr. Thomas Winterfeldt, Head of Forging Plants at SMS group.

SMS will supply the following digitalization tools and technology packages, which are specifically tailored to the requirements of the customer and his machinery:

• MIDIS+ (Management Information Diagnostic Indication System) plans, controls and coordinates all production sequences and facilitates the management of all product-related data. This boosts productivity and ensures reproducibility with identical material properties and, thanks to order management functions, easy and smart production planning.
• ForgeBase^® and Comforge^® technology packages. Model extensions that enable pass schedules to be configured based on material properties, taking temperature and forming parameters into account. The permanent evaluation of the machine and process data as well as the live visualization mean the forging strategy and deformation distribution can be continuously optimized online during the forging process.
• SMS Metrics and SMS SmartAlarm. Digitalization tools for real-time collection and evaluation of machine data as well as continuous analysis to detect anomalies early and avoid costly and lengthy plant shutdowns.
• With the Maintenance Advisor, maintenance work can be preventively planned and digitally tracked with the aid of machine data resulting in improved availability and resilient production. 

The forging line is scheduled to go on stream in Q1 2024.